- Yoshie NOGUCHI,
- Senior legal officer, IPEC
Contents - Children “working” on the street
- General overview on child labour
- What is child labour (CL), and its worst forms (WFCL)?
- Challenges/lessons in addressing CL and WFCL on the street
- Data collection: CL on the street
- Eliminating WFCL by 2016 !
Children “Working” on the street - Economic activities
- selling small objects,
- shoe-shining,
- portering
- Sexual exploitation (prostitution)
- Illicit activities
- Criminal acts
- drug dealing,
- pick-pocketing
Child labour statistics ILO Global Report 2010 - Child labour continues to decline, [3% decline between 2004-2008] but more modestly than previously
- [10% decline between 2000-2004]
- On present trends, the goal of eliminating the worst forms of child labour by 2016 will not be reached
Different trends: girls and boys - Fewer girls are now in child labour.
- Worrying trend for boys
- Increase by 20% among older boys (15-17) in hazardous work
Regional trends - Asia and Pacific – significant reduction down to 96m (14.8 % of children)
- Latin America and Caribbean – slight reduction down to 10m (9%)
- Sub Saharan Africa – further increase to 58m (28.4%)
- No separate figure for Europe or developed countries – lack of surveys
CRC and child labour - The right to be protected from economic exploitation (§32) = the protection from child labour (ILS)
- The right to education, health …
- Non-discrimination
- Two issues under the Op Protocols (sexual exploitation, armed conflict) = Worst Forms of Child Labour
What is Child Labour? - Child labour to be eliminated =
- Worst Forms of Child Labour (C182) and
- Work done by a child below the minimum age for that kind of work (specified by national law, in line with C138 and CRC article 32(2))
- See: UN SG Report to GA 2009 [A/64/127]
What is child labour? | | - Work that is NOT hazardous or other WFCL
| - Hazardous work or other WFCL
| - Children above the minimum age but below 18y
| | | - Children below the minimum working age
| | | Worst Forms of Child Labour - Children in slavery, forced or compulsory labour, child trafficking
- Children used in prostitution and pornography
- Children used in illicit activities
- Children in hazardous work
- See : ILO C182, Article 3
C 182: coverage - All sectors of economic activity without any exception
- Girls and boys under 18 years
- Special attention for most vulnerable e.g. minorities, girls, very young, and on the street !
- Worst forms of child labour as urgent priority target for action
Child labour and its worst forms on the street - Forced labour, including in begging, child trafficking
- Sexual exploitation
- The use of children in illicit activities or crime (e.g. drugs)
- hazardous work = “work likely to jeopardize/harm a child’s health, safety or morals”
Challenges in addressing child labour on the street - Outside the scope of “child labour” legislation - absence of an employer, or formal relation - not considered in the “hazardous work” list
- The children may be perceived as delinquents rather than victims of WFCL
- Interest in / access to education ?
- “Decent Work” prospect for these children ?
- Social protection measures may focus adults or families: e.g. Cash Transfer, income support
- Maybe lacking ID, birth certificate, legal status...
- Listing “street vending” among the hazardous work and prohibit for children (Lebanon)
- Comprehensive rehabilitation for girls on the street and/or at risk of sexual exploitation (Russian Federation)
- Mobile schools: facilitating the transition from street to school (Romania)
- Mobilizing public action by raising awareness among teachers and students (Paraguay) – SCREAM (Supporting Children’s Rights through Education, the Arts and the Media) methods
Some lessons learned - Clearly define “what is not acceptable” in labour, criminal, or children’s rights or other laws;
- Consider and address difficulties of enforcement
- Raise awareness among stakeholders of the specific risks [of working street girls]; thus help raise the issue higher on the political agenda
- Gradually prepare the children for social / family integration
- Involve government entities from the beginning, giving them ownership
- Mobilize children and young people; conveying the message to the public (families, community and institutions) and also the business community
- Respect and adapt to the socio-economic and cultural characteristics of each country and each community
Child labour statistics - SIMPOC* (Statistical Information and Monitoring Programme on Child Labour) help countries in :
- household-based surveys,
- establishment-based surveys,
- baseline surveys, and
- rapid assessments
- [* www.ilo.org/ipec/ChildlabourstatisticsSIMPOC ]
Child labour statistics (2) - Need to develop methodologies
- Need to define concepts for statistical operation < legal definitions
- Resolution by the 18th International Conference of Labour Statisticians concerning statistics of child labour (ICLS Resolution) - 2008
- Household-based surveys can gather information only on children living with their family and working on the street
- Establishment-based surveys may not cover any child labour on the street
- Children’s accessibility, availability and interest in the data collection
Rapid Assessment - Methodology jointly developed by ILO and UNICEF
- Especially useful for some WFCL
- Qualitative information obtained through a rapid assessment will apply with certainty only to the limited sample population and context
- [See: manuals available on SIMPOC website]
Capture-Recapture method - See the UCW example (Study on child beggars in Dakar)
- Previously used (2002 Global Report on Child Labour) in estimating the scale of the WFCL other than hazardous work – a huge challenge for us all in CL statistics
- The best interest of the child
- Pre-research issues
- Assess the safety risk to the child of participating in the survey (and to the researchers): especially for children exploited in / by organize crime
- Informed consent for all interviews; in a child-sensitive way; with the right to say “No” at any time
Ethical considerations in child labour data collection (2) - Issues during research
- Language and logic: to avoid jargon and adapted to each child (age, sex, culture…)
- Trust: to be built patiently on relationship
- Conditions of listening: carefully, with positive and neutral expression
- Pay and promises: consider carefully
- Post –research issues
- Right to privacy / sharing info & outcome
Accelerating action against child labour - an increased global effort to tackle child labour and
- enhanced Government commitment
- reach out to children at special risk: e.g. on the street !
Further measures - international cooperation
- social dialogue and cooperation = Partnership with business and trade unions
- advocacy and mobilisation
- decent work for youth/adults
The Global Action Plan - Eliminating the worst forms of child labour by 2016 !
- Roadmap 2010 (The Hague)
- Attention: children on the street
Thank you for your attention ! - International Programme on the
- Elimination of Child Labour
- 4, Route des Morillons
- CH-1211 Geneva 22
- Switzerland
- Tel.: (+41 - 22) 799 81 81
- Fax: (+41 - 22) 799 87 71
- E-mail: ipec@ilo.org
- Child labour website:
- http://www.ilo.org/ipec
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